The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the 17 recipients of the 2009 Housing Awards. The AIA’s Housing Awards Program, now in its ninth year, was established to recognize the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit and a valuable national resource.

The jury recognized projects in four award categories: One/Two Family Custom Housing, One/Two Family Production Housing, Special Housing, and Multifamily Housing

One/Two Family Custom Housing The One and Two Family Custom Residences award recognizes outstanding designs for custom and remodeled homes for specific client(s).

Chuckanut Drive Residence – Bellingham, Washington The Miller | Hull Partnership This 1400 square foot main house and guest house/ garage is located on a heavily wooded cliff site with views out over the San Juan Islands of Washington State. The plan orients to major views south down the coast line and west out to the islands while being careful to stay outside of the drip line of the dominate Douglas-fir trees.

House on Hoopers Island – Church Creek, Maryland David Jameson Architect The house is used with various degrees of frequency and intensity depending on the weather and the number of guests. For this reason, the house is composed of several separate cabins that can be locked down or conditioned and inhabited as needed. Although the cabins are individual buildings, they are linked visually by the exterior metal cladding and coplanar sloped roofs.

Laidley Street Residence – San Francisco, California Zack / de Vito Architecture The goal of the project was to create a modern, eco-sensitive, urban retreat that was kid tough and kid friendly. Materials, details and connections are visible expressions of the design and construction. This is exemplified in the intricate staircase where water jet-cut steel stringers support translucent acrylic treads and risers. The house was designed and built using sustainable design principles. Energy efficiency, low consumption and low toxicity were key ideas.

Cinco Camp – Brewster County, Texas Rhotenberry Wellen Architects The owner desired a retreat that was economically and quickly constructed, which would cause a minimal impact on the chosen building site. Recycled shipping containers were chosen as the primary building component for their compact size and ready availability. Occasional passing trains are typically loaded with shipping containers, providing a subtle yet intermittently obvious contextual reference for the use of containers as a primary building component of the compound.

Montecito Residence – Montecito, California Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects Montecito Residence is a single-family home set in the fire-prone Toro Canyon. The owners wanted a house that minimized its use of scarce natural resources and recognized the challenging environmental conditions of the area. The raised roof functions as an umbrella to shield the house from the sun, while the long central hallway allows naturally cool offshore breezes to move through the space. The hallway also creates an axis dividing the private from the public.

Outpost – Bellevue, Idaho Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects Set in the remote and harsh high desert landscape of Idaho, Outpost is an artist live/work studio and residence for making and displaying art. Outpost’s compactness limits site impact and reinforces the desire to be outside. The architects chose a readily available construction material – concrete block – for the primary structure; commercial builders were able to quickly and cheaply assemble the building. Interiors are exposed and unfinished; there is no waste in coatings and low to no VOCs.

Glade House – Lake Forest, Illinois Frederick Phillips and Associates Built in the historic district of Lake Forest, Illinois, and subject to strict municipal review, this house mediates between the common and the unexpected. In a community where large traditional houses prevail, this house seeks a return to simple agrarian forms, colors, and textures typical to the region, but lost long ago.

Low Country Residence- Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Frank Harmon Architect The long, one-room-deep floor plan gives each room windows and porches overlooking Shem Creek. A modern interpretation of Charleston’s historic shutters provides protection from harsh weather and summer sun. Operable windows provide natural cross-ventilation and lighting. Approaching the house under a canopy of moss-draped live oaks and up a gentle ramp, the view of the marsh appears like an element in a Japanese painting.

700 Palms Residence – Venice, California Ehrlich Architects The objective for this eco-friendly residence in Venice, California was to: design a high-performance home that dissolves the barriers between indoors and outdoors; utilize raw, honest materials appropriate to the bohemian grittiness of the surrounding community; and have the smallest carbon footprint in balance with lifestyle. The house design takes full advantage of the local climate such that a net zero energy building is obtained.

House at Sagaponac – Wainscott, New York TsAO & McKOWN Architects A significant issue was how to root the house to the earth; the nearly flat site in a young growth forest offered no footing. By reshaping the topography, the architects were able to establish the first level slightly below grade and sculpted the surrounding terrain into a gentle rise. The house functions (physically and psychically) on multiple levels - as much an intimate retreat for two (or one) as an accommodating host to an extended family (or numerous guests).

Multifamily Housing The Multifamily Housing award recognizes outstanding apartment and condominium design. Both high- and low-density projects for public and private clients were considered. In addition to architectural design features, the jury assessed the integration of the building(s) into their context, including open and recreational space, transportation options and features that contribute to livable communities.

Fort Point Loft Condominiums – Boston, Massachusetts Hacin + Associates, Inc. This 140,000 square foot project encompasses the adaptive reuse of two historic structures, the construction of a new building on an adjacent lot, and a three-story rooftop addition above all three structures. The program includes 99 condominium units [with 8 affordable units, including 3 artist live/work studios], two levels of restaurant/retail and a lobby/art gallery. The new facade at 346 Congress takes cues from the restored facades at 348 and 354. Together, the three buildings relate to one another with a progressive series of window groupings, architectural details, colors, materials and proportional rhythms

Courtyard Lofts – Long Beach, California Studio One Eleven at Perkowitz+Ruth Architects and Interstices Architecture Situated in downtown Long Beach, Courtyard Lofts represents the transformation of two derelict commercial buildings and an existing parking lot into residential lofts surrounding a verdant communal courtyard. As an infill project incorporating the adaptive re-use of two structures, the low-rise, humane scale of the project is respectful of its context and preserves the character of the existing buildings and the surrounding community. The architecture of Courtyard Lofts was consciously designed to integrate sustainability.

ICON – San Diego, California TANNERHECHT Architecture The project is constructed on a 55,000 square foot brown-field industrial site and is comprised of 327 residences in four towers ranging from 5 to 24 stories connected by bridges and terraces surrounding the contemporary garden. The tallest tower is topped with the SkyBox overlooking the Petco Park and San Diego Bay. The architecture preserves and rehabilitates the historic building facades and penthouse of the Carnation/Qualitee Dairy, San Diego Historical Site No. 289.

One/Two Family Production Housing The One and Two Family Production Homes award will recognize excellent design of homes built for the speculative market.

Conover Commons – Redmond, Washington Ross Chapin Architects This project was a for-profit venture by an architect/developer team to demonstrate the market for detached housing alternatives for small households. It was also intended as a compelling example of suburban infill residential development. This project met the 4-Star Rating of the Master Builders Association BUILTGREEN program, including high-efficiency appliances, heaters and light fixtures, high-level insulation and weather sealing, materials selected for resource efficiency, low-toxicity and durability, and jobsite recycling.

Special Housing The Special Housing award recognizes outstanding design of housing that meets the unique needs of other specialized housing types such as single room occupancy residences (SROs), independent living for the disabled, residential rehabilitation programs, domestic violence shelters, and other special housing.

Madison @ 14th Apartments – Oakland, California Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects The building provides 79 apartments and supportive services for low-income residents and former foster youth at risk of becoming homeless. The ground floor has retail space that encourages pedestrian street use in the neighborhood. The second floor includes a podium garden, community rooms and shared kitchen. The upper floors house affordable rental units ranging in size from 400 square foot studios to 1,100 square foot three bedroom apartments. The residential units are constructed of materials that are durable, healthy and environmentally sustainable.

The Bridge – Dallas, Texas Overland Partners Architects The temporary shelter is a reclaimed warehouse while transitional housing is on upper floors, separating disparate populations. Sleeping areas have translucent walls that welcome natural light and remind the city of the presence and function of the building. A publicly-selected artist worked with homeless, superimposing their writings over brightly colored glass — a metaphor for the spectrum of humanity. Facing downtown, this is a gift to the community, a magnet for the homeless, and a source of inspiration. It proves that shelters should not be isolated, but an integrated part of our community; they are valuable civic buildings representing the compassion of our society.

Saint John’s Abbey and Monastery Guesthouse – Collegeville, Minnesota VJAA Sited directly on Lake Sagatagan and adjacent to the existing monastery, the new guesthouse combines conference and meeting areas, a library, a meditation room, dining facilities, and administrative offices with thirty guest rooms and suites. The positioning of the building was organized so that all of the rooms would face the lake. The project uses environmental philosophies found within the Rule of Benedict to guide sustainable strategies.